From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11
On Mon, 4/27/2026 11:57 AM, Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:
What is Windows K2? Inside MicrosoftrCOs big plan to save Windows 11 and win back trust from users. | Windows Central
<https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/windows-11/what-is-windows-k2-everything-you-need-to-know-saving-windows-11>
Related: <https://www.hkepc.com/25596/>
In-lined (as the WindowsCentral web page layout was so awful, I had to
crush the contents and refine them just so I could read it).
Well, the BUILD conference is coming up, so I suppose they needed
some "content" for BUILD.
But really, this is so so much cobblers. Let us say you own a dog
and it keeps biting people. It has big jaws and it enjoys biting
things. Biting, is what it does. Well then, how exactly do you
pull all the teeth out and turn it into a kitten ? You don't really.
It will be a kitten with really big jaws that keeps biting people.
Five years from now, you'll look at the results and say
"What was the plan again ???" The OS speed will be cut in half,
the RAM requirement will double, and there will be 14,000 developers.
************************** Windows Central ***************************
What is Windows K2? Inside MicrosoftrCOs big plan to save Windows 11
and win back trust from users.
By Zac Bowden published 26 April 2026
Microsoft has restructured its Windows team to better position Windows11 as a strong platform that people should want to use.
Here's how it's going about that.
In March, Windows president Pavan Davuluri confirmed plans to address serious "pain points"
across Windows 11 that have eroded user trust and generated a wave of negative sentiment
around the OS, spawned from Microsoft's relentless push into AI and enshittification while
neglecting core Windows fundamentals such as performance and reliability.
Of course, what Microsoft says externally isn't always reflective of
what it's really thinking internally, but in this case, my sources say the company is serious about turning Windows 11 into a platform that people
are proud to use. By the end of 2026 and into 2027, Microsoft is striving
to have Windows 11 in a much better place.
According to my sources, this effort is codenamed Windows K2. ItrCOs a project that was put together in the second half of last year that addresses the biggest
complaints that people have about Windows 11 today. Everything from an overabundance
of AI features and bloat to performance issues and reliability mishaps will
be tackled.
Windows K2 isnrCOt a dedicated release of the OS. Instead,
K2 is an ongoing initiative that will ensure Windows quality remains both
high and consistent across current and future versions, building an OS that
is always focused on improvements to fundamentals to ensure foundational aspects of the platform are continuously strong.
Performance, Craft, and Reliability
These are the three core pillars of focus with the Windows K2 initiative.
These pillars are what drive the Windows experience. If one
of these pillars falls behind, the entire product suffers as a result. With Windows K2, Microsoft is working to ensure these three pillars are strong by addressing feedback directly from users and Insiders, analyzing telemetry
data, and conducting focus groups with customers.
I'm told that K2 also looks inward at the teams themselves. It's not just
about addressing feedback and fixing Windows 11, but it's also about how teams internally can better contribute code to the Windows product. I understand there's
a huge culture shift happening internally right now that drives the K2 initiative.
In the past, Windows has been obsessed with agility. It was keen to ship new features
as quickly and as frequently as possible, but this ultimately came at the
cost of quality and reliability. While teams were able to get new features
out the door fast, users became frustrated with an OS that never stood still and becoming ever more problematic.
One of the biggest cultural changes internally that I've heard about is that teams are no longer striving to ship fast. The obsession with with being agile has been replaced with an obsession with quality. I understand that new features
aren't allowed near public preview builds before reaching a certain quality bar internally now, and while that bar has always existed, the bar is much higher now.
There's a lesser known fourth pillar, too: Community. The Windows K2 initiative is
eager to rebuild a community of fans and enthusiasts around Windows. It's bringing back Windows Insider meetups, and appointing members of the Windows team to be more forward facing on social media and in forums to respond directly to feedback from people online.
Performance and Reliability
Performance is a top priority for the Windows K2 effort. In
documentation viewed by Windows Central, Microsoft is aware that it has let performance slip in apps like File Explorer and games, as well as system UI elements such as context menus. Windows 10 is often found to be faster than Windows 11 in certain benchmarks, and the company is moving to change this.
For gaming, Microsoft views steamOS as the benchmark, and is working to optimize the platform so that steamOS and Windows gaming performance are comparable. Within the next year or two, it believes that Windows will be
able to truly compete head-to-head with steamOS in gaming performance on identical hardware due to foundational changes that are being made to the platform in the coming months.
File Explorer is set to gain some major performance improvements too, speeding up file navigation and processing, and improving the speed of search within the File Explorer app, with capabilities such as rCLinstant filename searchrCY coming.
The company views a third-party app called File Pilot as the benchmark for these improvements.
Windows Update will also be improved, with the goal of making Windows 11 reliable enough so that a restart is only necessary once a month. Under the hood changes are also expected that are designed to make updating Windows
more seamless, such as only updating display and audio drivers when restarting instead of during active use.
IrCOm told thererCOs also a concerted effort to debloat Windows 11 too, focusing on
minimizing memory use at idle and reducing the overall footprint of the OS so that it runs better on low-end hardware as well as smoother on high-end systems and gaming handhelds.
Craft and UI
Craft is also a huge area of focus for K2, addressing user experience complaints and bringing back fan favorite features that have been missing
since Windows 11's inception. Microsoft has already confirmed plans to bring back the ability to move and resize the Taskbar, one of Windows 11's most requested features.
The K2 initiative is also pushing teams internally
lean more heavily on its in-house Windows UI framework. WinUI 3 is a core foundational aspect of K2, with performance improvements in the works to ensure these native UI surfaces are faster and more reliable so that it can be used
in more areas of the system, including where legacy interfaces currently exist such as Run and Control Panel.
One of the ways I'm told this is happening is with a new System Compositor
for WinUI 3, which will reduce latency and memory overhead across the UI so that elements such as the Start menu and Taskbar are always responsive and available to use, even under heavy system load.
In fact, with this new compositor in place, Microsoft is rebuilding
the Start menu from scratch with WinUI 3 natively. I'm told this new Start
menu will be up to 60% faster and more responsive than the existing one,
while also sporting more customization options such as the ability to resize
it and hide sections of the menu.
The K2 project also address some of the big issues around enshittification.
I'm told Microsoft is removing ads from the Start menu, which is no small feat from a financial perspective. It's also planning to stop MSN from appearing by default in the Widgets Board, instead prioritizing the Widgets Panel with MSN being a secondary functionality instead of the primary one.
K2 evolves
Windows K2 doesn't have a completion date. It's an ongoing initiative that essentially defines how Windows should be built and what it should prioritize going forward. The goal is to fix up Windows 11 and reposition the platform as something people are proud to use, and maintain that consistently.
It's a positive movement that Windows desperately needs, and is helping to position
the platform as a viable competitor well into the future. Changes and improvements
that are part, of the Windows K2 initiative are already beginning to ship, with many more shipping in preview over the summer.
Zac Bowden is [paid for this story]
*************************** Windows Central ***************************
Windows isn't afraid of Linux, but it is afraid of Steam.
Paul
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